A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 169 Princess, Prince, and Mage

"This is Rorschach, my classmate and good friend, who came all the way from Valuva to attend our wedding. He's now a mid-level mage." Bart seemed a little reluctant to say the last sentence of his introduction.

I told you not to waste your time flirting with princesses!

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Unlike her treatment of Bart, Amalia treated Rorschach with the proper etiquette expected of a princess. She extended her delicate hand, and Rorschach took her fingertips and leaned down, but did not actually kiss her; it was just a light kiss.

"It is an honor to receive the invitation."

The dignified and poised princess appeared, and the housekeeper nodded with satisfaction.

"Let's go to the restaurant and wait for your brother. Rorschach has a lot of interesting stories to tell you about in the Holy Kingdom."

"OK!"

No, I'm not just a third wheel for you guys, but also an ambient light with a playback function? Luo Xia clenched his fist holding the walking stick, and then the butler took the stick away.

This mansion is less like a nobleman's residence and more like a property owned by a wealthy merchant. It has a restaurant, a reception room and other facilities, but none of them are very big. By noble standards, it is not even big enough to fit the servants.

Is this their little base? Actually, Rorschach had always been a little suspicious. For the king to allow his "cabbage" (his wife) and "pig" (his lover) to meet freely before they were even married seemed a bit too much of a free-choice relationship. Based on his limited knowledge of history and etiquette, "marriage between people of different social classes" was a major taboo in royalty.

In the past century, there have been marriages between wealthy merchants and the marginal descendants of nobles, which often meant transactions. Bart has the status of a mage and the blessing of being the son of a major merchant guild, but the resident mage is appointed by the council and His Majesty the Emperor, which makes it somewhat delicate. The Bain royal family is also a first-class noble family in the empire.

If it's Richard, then he's a perfect match. Why am I worrying about this?

Perhaps Princess Sophie truly was a goddess of pure love, clearing away obstacles for this couple, which unconsciously elevated her status in Rorschach's heart.

The princess covered her mouth in surprise: "So the King of the Holy Kingdom can make clocks?"

“Yes.” Rorschach pulled out a gold pocket watch. “It was a gift from His Majesty Charles XVI. I thought it was just a hobby of his, but it turns out it’s always kept perfect time.”

Rorschach handed it to his friend for a look, and then the friend passed it on to the princess.

Bart was somewhat surprised; compared to Luo Xia, he suddenly felt that his perspective this year had been too narrow: "The King of the Holy Kingdom personally gave you a gift!"

"Because I gave him a bad idea." Then Rorschach explained the origins of the Higher Normal School of Valuana.

The princess listened attentively and nodded: "Education is indeed very important. Every kingdom should build a school to train teachers. If you give your father a 'bad idea,' he might gift you a thoroughbred Eastern horse."

"Then I need to think carefully about what terrible ideas might impress His Majesty." In fact, he did have some ideas to please the "pioneer of the tourism industry."

As they chatted, the guest they had been waiting for finally arrived. A tall, thin young man entered, and the housekeeper curtsied, saying, "Your Highness."

On the way here, Bart had told Rorschach that this private dinner was prepared for the second prince, Otto. With Albert going to the palace for recuperation and the eldest prince joining the army, Otto could be of great help in building the factory.

He inherited the king's black hair, growing it long and letting it fall to the sides to cover his ears.

The princess bowed to the prince first: "Brother, I am so happy that you could come."

"No, don't you know what my sister is thinking? If you come back to the palace with me tonight, you won't get scolded, right?"

Ignoring the effeminate expression on Wang Mei's face, and passing the obnoxious merchant boy, he directly sized up Luo Xia: "Are you a mage from the Holy Kingdom?"

"I graduated from the Imperial Magic Academy, Your Highness, but I did study at the Tower of Stars."

Once everyone was present, they sat down at the table. The prince naturally took the head seat, with the mid-level mage to his left and the princess to his right. Below the princess sat the son of the Baldorom Merchant Guild.

Without any regard for etiquette, the four ate and chatted casually, the dishes being served in the order of cold appetizers, appetizers, main courses, and soup, with the last dish being red rice porridge: "It is said that the Holy Kingdom has a rich variety of sweets, but in Byrne, apart from sweet biscuits, everything is savory. Please, Master Rorschach, try this sweet porridge." It was as if Prince Otto was the master of the house.

"Valuwana's pastries are exquisite, but too sweet for me. No matter how many meals I eat, I still have the stomach of someone from the south of the Empire." No way, the food in the Holy Kingdom is far superior to that of the Empire.

"You're from the South?" The prince became much more friendly. "I thought Bart's situation was an isolated case; the Royal Academy should be mostly populated by people from the North."

This prince seems to have a knack for conquering the north and south. Rorschach nodded: "You're right, but I do indeed come from a village on the edge of the Black Forest."

Otto, strangely, became even more talkative because Rorschach was from the south of the empire, and he also knew about art, especially symphonies and operas: "Have you seen Mr. Franz? How is he? Since that talented young man went to the Holy Kingdom, our orchestra has become much more relaxed, but that's not good for the audience."

"I had a brief conversation with him, and it seems he's seeking the favor of the muse."

The prince also inquired about the popular operas in Valois, which Rorschach happened to have actually seen and knew the playwright Caron. The two exchanged ideas that pleased Otto greatly.

To Rorschach's surprise, Bart was able to join the conversation, talking about music, masters, and masterpieces. You see, this guy hated these things most back in academy, even his etiquette classes were just something he barely passed. If you had this kind of dedication, you wouldn't need my help with the theory exams.

Perhaps this is the power of love.

The next night.

Inside a hotel in the center of Munnick, Mr. Pierre, looking troubled, reported to Rorschach while drinking a pitcher of beer:

"When Mr. Hassai talked to me, he provided several factory sites selected by his chamber of commerce, but I was still not satisfied. I felt that the area was too small, which would not be conducive to the subsequent second and third phases of construction. But today when I went to the city hall, I was told that if we want to buy more land, we will have to pay a large sum of taxes at once, which is beyond our budget."

After he put down his wine glass, a white beard made of foam appeared on his round face.

Rorschach removed Mr. Pierre's wine glass and wiped the table. Without saying a word, he summoned a piece of paper with a sealing wax mark from his storage ring.

"A land transaction license?" The seal of the royal family was prominently displayed, and it was signed Otto Friedrich Ludwig.

Another one.

"Exemption Certificate for the Circulation of Goods"

Pierre held up the “Certificate of Free Trade Membership of the Duma River Trade Union” with trembling hands; each document was worth a fortune.

Newsingen shuddered when he heard that the male members of the Ludwig family had unusual sexual orientations.

"I went to the palace this morning. Tomorrow, you will attend a banquet with me. Baldorom will send a new representative. You will represent 'Hercules.' The executive officer of Munik, the tax collector, and three trade representatives of the Duma Union will also be present."

"We won't wait for Hassai. The day after tomorrow, we'll go to the handicraft district to check out the glass factory and the lumber mill." Rorschach valued the construction of the beverage factory highly; it would be a preview. After revealing his plan to build his own magic tower in Byrne, the prince spoke with him for a long time.

He didn't have the chance to give the King any bad advice, but he gave Prince Otto quite a few. In the end, Prince Otto personally saw him off, shaking Rorschach's hand.

With the arrangements at the royal palace complete, it's time for the local powerhouse, the Bart family's merchant guild, to step in and cultivate good relations with the trade alliance. However, Rorschach doesn't intend to participate. He's a mage, not a businessman through and through; his attendance tomorrow is solely to give Pierre Newsingen face and to facilitate negotiations.

As it turns out, getting things done inevitably involves drinking at the dinner table. While the tables in the previous world were round, square tables are more common on the other world's continent of Floren. Fortunately, the intermediate mage simply said he didn't drink, so no one dared to force him; it just meant Pierre had to work extra hard.

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Thank you to the readers "Jealous Shadow", "There's a Bear in the World", "Blown Clouds", "rcliu", "Summer Shower", "Neurotic", "Little Fat Bee", "Dark Night, Wings", and "Missing Item" for their recommendation votes!

I feel like I'm dragging my feet after finishing this, so I'll speed up the plot tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)